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鬼に金棒

English translation: unbeatable advantage

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Japanese term or phrase:鬼に金棒
English translation:unbeatable advantage
Entered by: KathyT

04:44 Aug 25, 2005
Japanese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / instructions
Japanese term or phrase: 鬼に金棒
What would be the best English equivalent of this phrase/idiom?
The sentence is:
ファイナンスのスキルを身に付けられたら鬼に金棒ではないですか
Katalin Horváth McClure
United States
Local time: 07:29
Acquiring financial skills gives (one) an unbeatable advantage
Explanation:
Hi Katalin,

Eijiro gives various renditions of this idiom.
My punt given above, but take your pick!

技と自信があれば、鬼に金棒。
Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.
鬼に金棒
strength of Samson // The more Moors, the better victory.
鬼に金棒 ；《諺》
ogre with an iron club
彼女がついててくれたら鬼に金棒だ
With her help, I can't lose.
「彼がうちの野球チームに入ってくれたら鬼に金棒なんだけど」「忙し過ぎて野球をする暇がないって彼は言ってたよ」
"If he joins our baseball team, that will put the icing on the cake." "He said he was too busy and had no time to play baseball."
Selected response from:

KathyT
Australia
Local time: 21:29
Grading comment
Thank you, everybody.
I like this one with "unbeatable".
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +6Acquiring financial skills gives (one) an unbeatable advantage
KathyT
4 -1Please see explanation:
Saiwai Translation Services
3 -1Hercules with the distaff (and see explanation)
CELC Inc
1unbeatable combination
Maynard Hogg
1 -1double advantage
cinefil


  

Answers


12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5 peer agreement (net): -1
鬼に金棒
double advantage


Explanation:
just a guess

cinefil
Japan
Local time: 20:29
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 23

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Maynard Hogg: "Double" is too specific. KathyT's "unbeatable" is, ahem, hard to beat.
1 day 21 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +6
鬼に金棒
Acquiring financial skills gives (one) an unbeatable advantage


Explanation:
Hi Katalin,

Eijiro gives various renditions of this idiom.
My punt given above, but take your pick!

技と自信があれば、鬼に金棒。
Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.
鬼に金棒
strength of Samson // The more Moors, the better victory.
鬼に金棒 ；《諺》
ogre with an iron club
彼女がついててくれたら鬼に金棒だ
With her help, I can't lose.
「彼がうちの野球チームに入ってくれたら鬼に金棒なんだけど」「忙し過ぎて野球をする暇がないって彼は言ってたよ」
"If he joins our baseball team, that will put the icing on the cake." "He said he was too busy and had no time to play baseball."



    Reference: http://www2.alc.co.jp/ejr/index.php?word_in=%8B%E0%96_&word_...
KathyT
Australia
Local time: 21:29
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you, everybody.
I like this one with "unbeatable".

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  weshare (X): I had checked the original meaning in Japanese Japanese dictionary, and it says that giving a strong one with more strength. So, I agree with you.
56 mins
  -> Thank you, weshare!
agree  Can Altinbay: I'd say you put the point across the best.
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Can.
agree  cocopuff: unbeatable answer!
6 hrs
  -> Thank you, cocopuff. Cute handle :-)
agree  humbird: Good job! I believe you gave a new twist to this much hackneyed expressin. My personal preference however is "Ogre with an iron club", if not too literal.
9 hrs
  -> Thank you, humbird.
agree  sumc
12 hrs
  -> Thank you, sumc-san.
agree  Maynard Hogg: perfect for this context!
1 day 20 mins
  -> Thank you, Maynard.
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24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
鬼に金棒
Hercules with the distaff (and see explanation)


Explanation:
ファイナンスのスキルを身に付けられたら鬼に金棒ではないですか
It would be like Hercules with the distaff if he/she acquired financial skills.

This is a classical English phrase that, while accurate, may not be appropriate for your translation. In that case, you could try some colloquial example, like "giving Ichiro a tee to bat from" or something.

Another option might be to just translate fairly literally: "It would be like handing an iron club to an ogre if he/she acquired financial skills," or "He/she would be like an ogre who's gotten hold of an iron club if..."

Finally, you could try: "He/she would even more formidable if..."

Good luck


    Reference: http://www.246.ne.jp/~kotowaza/abstracts.html
CELC Inc
Local time: 20:29
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Maynard Hogg: Translating hackneyed Japanese into hackneyed English is one strategy, but your doesn't mean any thing to this native speaker.
1 day 15 mins
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
鬼に金棒
Please see explanation:


Explanation:


It would be great if he/she acquired financial skills.

Usually 鬼に金棒 (おににかなぼう)means make one even stronger .
In other words his/her plus point, additional feature, advantage.

Please see:

http://www.alice-it.com/proverbs/proverbs-a.html

http://buna.yorku.ca/japanese/idiom_all.html#o



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 18 mins (2005-08-25 06:02:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

鬼に金棒

【読み】 おににかなぼう
【意味】 ただでさえ強い鬼（おに）が鉄（てつ）の棒（ぼう）を持つこと。強い上にさらに強さが加（くわ）わること。


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 23 mins (2005-08-25 06:07:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

鬼に金棒（おににかなぼう）

普段でさえ力が強い鬼に鉄の棒を持たせるかのように、強い上にさらに強さが増すことのたとえ

Saiwai Translation Services
Japan
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Maynard Hogg: "would be great" is too wishy washy. "He/she would be even more formidable" would be better.
23 hrs
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1 day 37 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5
unbeatable combination


Explanation:
would be my gloss, but this context called for something different because it didn't give the other half of the pair.


    Reference: http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&as_qdr...
Maynard Hogg
Canada
Local time: 04:29
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
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